


Anywhere But Home for the Holidays

by BaronVonChop



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Holidays, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 02:03:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8949385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaronVonChop/pseuds/BaronVonChop
Summary: Luke and Leia don't want to spend Christmas with their dad, so they talk Han into taking them on a road trip instead.Holiday fluff ensues.





	

Luke and Leia can’t face the prospect of a Christmas break at home with their father. Normally, they don’t have to spend much time at home. Leia goes to boarding school at the Breha and Bail Organa School. In addition to the core subjects, she also learns Latin, Greek, piano, political science, and etiquette. She jokes that they are trying to turn her into a princess. Luke, whose grades aren’t as good as his sister’s, splits his time between high school and his aunt and uncle’s farm. He helps them with the chores and keeps their vehicles and machines maintained.

It’s harder to avoid going home for the holidays, though. Thanksgiving was a fiasco. When Leia tried hiding in her room, her dad decided that, if she wasn’t coming out, he was going to lock her in until dinner. Then, at dinner, Luke made the mistake of turning down Anakin’s offer to join him at the family business after graduation. Anakin carved a wing off the turkey while maintaining ominous eye contact with his son. Padmé did her best to calm her husband, which was probably the only reason anyone was eventually able to eat. They were relieved when Thanksgiving break was finally over, but they immediately started dreading the Christmas holiday.

As the holiday approaches, the twins approach their friend Han for help.

Han is older, having recently graduated high school, and he seems to spend most of his time hanging out at the local pool hall when he isn’t making dubious deliveries in his beat-up van. When they ask him about his plans for the holidays, he shrugs. “I was just planning on going on a bit of a road trip with Chewie here.” He pats the shaggy dog sitting at his feet. “This town gets a little cozy around Christmas.”

“Would you mind taking us with you?” Luke asks.

Han knows enough about their situation at home to guess what is going on. “Your dad, huh?”

“It’s really uncomfortable,” Leia says.

Han raises his eyebrows. “And you don’t think your mom will mind?”

Leia and Luke exchange a glance. Leia says slowly, “I think it may be a relief to her, actually. I mean, I’m sure she’d love to have us over, but this way she doesn’t have to spend the whole time trying to keep Dad from being weird.”

“Hm,” says Han. “Well, I’ll have to run it past my copilot.”

“Copilot?” Luke asks, looking around for who Han could mean.

Han looks down at his dog. “What do you say, Chewie? Feel like taking on a couple of passengers?” The dog looks up at him, then barks once. “Then it’s settled,” says Han. “When is your first day of break?” They tell him. “I’ll pick you up here. Have your stuff packed and ready to go!”

When the day arrives, Luke and Leia show up with backpacks full of clothes. “All right,” Han says, “Let’s get this show on the road!” He and Chewie lead them back to Han’s van. The inside is a mess, with fast food wrappers and car magazines scattered on the floor and seats. Han makes a brief effort to throw things into the back, clearing out enough room for people to sit on the seat behind the driver’s seat.

“Who gets shotgun?” Luke asks.

Han looks surprised that Luke would even ask that. “Chewie gets shotgun. He’s my copilot.” He opens the front passenger side door and Chewbacca jumps up onto the seat.

Luke and Leia exchange a look but don’t say anything. They get into the van, with Leia on the driver’s side and Luke on the passenger side.

Han gets into the driver’s seat and puts the key in the ignition. “Next stop: somewhere that’s not here!” he announces before turning the key. The engine coughs, sputters, and goes quiet.

Leia sighs. “Well, that was a short trip.”

“Hang on,” says Han. He turns the key again and pounds the dashboard with his fist. The engine roars to life, and they are off.

With no particular destination in mind, they take back roads to avoid the highways packed with people driving home for the holidays. The scenery around them is stark and lovely. Snow dusts the trees and bushes by the road, and sky spreads out above them, gray and serene.

At one rest stop, Luke and Leia buy hot dogs with all the trimmings for the four of them while Han fills the gas tank. When Han comes in to pay, a man with wide, staring eyes and pursed lips recognizes him.

The man, who was fixing himself a hot dog covered in ketchup, mustard, and shredded cheese, approaches Han. He points his hot dog at Han’s chest and says, “Going somewhere, Solo?”

“Just a little holiday road trip,” says Han, eyeing the man.

“You owe my boss money!” the man says, bugging out his eyes.

“He’ll get it.”

The man jabs his hot dog at Han, leaving a mustard smear on his vest. “Maybe he should take your van instead!”

“Over my--what in the world could that be?” Han points behind the man.

“What--?” As the man starts to turn, Han knocks the hot dog out of his hand. It flips and smacks the man on the chest, splattering condiments all over his shirt. He stumbles and falls on his backside.

Han throws a handful of crumpled bills on the counter as he pushes Luke and Leia toward the door. “Keep the change,” he tells the cashier, “And sorry about the mess!”

They pile into the van and Han throws it into gear, stomping on the gas pedal. In his hurry to leave, Han accidentally knocks over a motorcycle that was parked too close to the van. The motorcycle’s owner and three of his friends, all dressed in black leather outfits and full-face helmets, jump onto their bikes and give chase.

Despite Han’s efforts to coax speed out of the van, the bikers overtake them. They drive up on both sides of the van and start banging on its sides with wrenches and tire irons. Han opens his window and starts throwing whatever comes to hand out the window at the pursuing bikers. Luke opens a window on his side as well and follows suit, grabbing magazines and trash and aiming at the bikers’ helmets. One magazine opens mid-flight and plasters across a biker’s helmet, obscuring his vision and forcing him to pull over and stop.

“I got him!” Luke crows.

“Great, kid!” Han replies. “Don’t get cocky!”

Luke scores another lucky hit when a ketchup-smeared hamburger wrapper sticks to another biker’s faceplate, causing him to fall back as well. By then, Han has cleared out the bikers on his side. Luke and Han both cheer, and Leia reaches across to hug Chewie around the neck.

As evening falls, they pull over so that Han check check on a noise in the engine. While Luke snoozes, Leia joins Han.

She tells him, “I’m surprised you can hear any new sounds in the engine over all the other noises it’s making.” Her breath puffs with each word.

“She may not look like much,” Han says, reaching into the engine to tighten something, “But she’s got it where it counts. Here, hold this.” He hands her a metal part covered with grease.

“Thanks,” says Leia, rolling her eyes.

“Just about got it,” Han grunts, fiddling with something deep in the engine. “Here, give me that back.” She hands him the part, and Han exclaims, “Your hands are freezing!” He quickly replaces the part, then takes Leia’s hands in his. His hands are pleasantly warm after working on the warm engine, but Leia hesitates.

“My hands are dirty,” she says.

“My hands are dirty too,” Han says. “What are you afraid of?”

Suddenly, they both jump as a voice shouts, “This is KTPO, bring you today’s biggest hits!”

“Stupid radio!” Han exclaims, rushing back into the van and turning the radio off. He pokes his head out the door and gives Leia an apologetic smile. “It does that sometimes.”

“Well, we should probably keep going,” Leia says, suppressing a smile. She gets back into the van without looking at Han, and they drive off.

They reach a motel. Despite Han’s suggestion, Leia ends up with her own room, while Han and Luke have to share a room. Worse, the heater in Han and Luke’s room is busted, and Han wakes to Luke shivering in the other bed. Grumbling, Han gets out of bed and wraps Luke up in blankets. Luke is still pretty cold, so Han microwaves a Pop-Tart. “This may smell bad, kid, but it will keep you warm,” he says. He crams the hot Pop-Tart into one of his discarded socks and slips it under Luke’s blanket to warm him up. The impromptu heating pad works, and soon Luke is sleeping restfully.

Han stays warm thanks to Chewbacca jumping up onto his bed and sleeping on his legs.

The next morning, Han explains to Luke why he has a sock full of Pop-Tart under his covers. “It’s so weird,” says Luke. “I remember dreaming that I was out in a blizzard, surrounded by snow, and then you showed up, riding an odd, smelly creature--”

“Okay, come on, let’s go get some breakfast. Just not Pop-Tarts.”

Over the next few days, they stumble into more adventures, until they have almost forgotten why they went on the trip in the first place. One evening, they find themselves singing karaoke in a room full of very odd people. A lady with the very thin limbs, bright red lipstick, and an amazing voice starts singing Christmas carols, and they all realize that it’s Christmas Eve.

As they head back to the van for dinner, Luke says, “Well, looks like it’s not going to be much of a Christmas this year.”

Han shrugs. “That’s kind of what we were expecting, though, isn’t it?”

Luke pauses before getting into the van. He sticks his hands into his pockets and kicks a small rock, sending it skittering across the parking lot. “I guess.”

“Well, then I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Han mutters, but he looks unhappy, too.

Leia thinks for a moment. “The night’s not over yet! We can still make the most of it.”

She opens the van’s sliding door and looks inside. “Let’s see, what do we have left in terms of food?”

Luke looks over her shoulder. “Looks like it’s just stuff for sandwiches. Not very Christmasy.”

Leia lifts some packages of sliced meat. “No, look! We can make ham sandwiches and turkey sandwiches! Ham and turkey are traditional Christmas foods, right? Who’s to say Christmas dinner can’t be sandwiches?”

Chewie barks, as though giving his approval.

Han gives a lop-sided smile. “Not bad. I like your thinking. But before we dig in, let’s find the right place for our Christmas meal.”

They get into the van and start driving. They wind their way up and down some back roads, looking for what looks like the right spot.

“There!” says Luke, pointing ahead. A small pine tree stands near the side of the road. “That can be our Christmas tree!”

They pull over next to the tree. “How about some caroling?” asks Han. He digs through the mess in his glove compartment and finds a cassette tape. He pops it into the tape player, and a moment later, the van’s speakers start blasting heavy metal.

“What is this?” Leia asks, her hands over her ears as she raises her voice to be heard. “Did you grab the wrong--” She stops, her mouth hanging open, when she recognizes the lyrics: despite the roaring guitars and crashing drums, the song is “Deck the Halls.”

Han turns the volume down a bit so that they can hear each other. “I think our tree needs a star,” says Luke.

Han scoffs. “Keep dreaming, kid.”

Luke just smiles. “Hand me that toolbox, will you?” Giving him a wary look, Han hands over his toolbox. Luke opens it and nods. “Now, based on all the tape holding the seats together, I’m guessing you have some duct tape in here somewhere?”

Han nods slowly. “It’s under Chewie’s seat.”

Leia gives her brother a curious look. “What are you up to?”

“You’ll see. I’ll just get the duct tape.” Luke starts to reach under the seat, but Chewbacca gives a soft, brief growl. “Okay, Han, you get the duct tape.”

“It’s okay,” Han tells his dog, “I think I know what he has in mind.” He fishes the roll of tape out from under the chair.

Luke takes out various long, shiny tools from the toolbox, arranges them in a star shape, and tapes them together. “There!” He holds it up to show the others. “What do you think?”

“Not a bad star,” Han admits. Chewie gives a bark of approval.

Luke gets out of the van and balances the star near the top of the little tree, with Leia letting him know which way to turn it and making sure it’s standing mostly straight. When Luke is done, he steps back to admire his work. “Now we have a little Christmas tree.”

“Don’t worry, Han,” Leia teases, “You’ll get your tools back when we’re done.”

Han gets out of the van and comes around to their side. He leans against the van, with one hand dangling over the side door. “You know, Leia, your brother’s not the only crafty one around here.” He motions at his hand with his eyes, and Leia sees that he’s holding something. Whatever it is, it looks like it was made out of a car advertisement from one of his magazines, featuring a white pickup truck driving along a forest road. Han has folded it so that the forest parts of the picture form four long diamond shapes meeting at the center, where the pickup has become three wadded-up white balls.

Leia laughs. “Is that supposed to be mistletoe?”

Han shrugs and smiles. “It was the best I could do.”

“Well, all right.” Leia leans forward to kiss him on the cheek. At the last second, Han tries to turn his head to make her kiss him on the lips instead, though she is too fast, so the kiss lands on the corner of his mouth. Leia chuckles. “Merry Christmas, Han.”

Luke grins. “Careful, that’s my sister.” Han tries his best to look innocent, but the grin spreading across his face makes that difficult.

Feeling left out, Chewie jumps out through Han’s open door and runs over to the group, barking happily and trying to jump on each of them. They all laugh and pet Chewie in turn.

They turn and look up at the tree, and the field of stars above.


End file.
